The Wisconsin Air National Guard’s 115th Fighter Wing announced today the death of an F-16 pilot who crashed in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula Dec. Per Department of Defense policy, the 115th Fighter Wing will not release the pilot’s identity until 24 hours after notifying the service member’s next of kin. I’m with the redacted Wing, redacted Air National Guard, and just before I was selected for the MSgt position, I had boarded and was selected for a pilot slot with the redacted Squadron in my unit, which flies the redacted.
The Air National Guard is feeling the pressure of maintaining a full-time pilot force amid a national pilot shortage, according to the chief of the National Guard Bureau.
The Guard is about a couple hundred pilots short when it comes to its full-time positions, Gen. Joseph Lengyel said at an Air Force Association event near Washington, D.C., on Thursday.
In the Air National Guard, full-timers are categorized as either technicians or Active Guard and Reserve, or AGR. Those under the technician umbrella are civil servants and paid on the government scale. The Air Force created the technician slots as a way to train Guardsmen and maintain operational readiness without needing as many people.
“It would be my choice to turn those [technician slots] into AGR slots,” Lengyel said, which would help fill out the full-time Guard numbers.
The National Guard Bureau is also looking at the same options as the Air Force when it comes to retaining pilots, including improving pilots’ quality of life and possibly even retention bonuses.
But there’s a key difference between the active force and the Guard.
“The only good news for me is you can be an airline pilot and a National Guard pilot” at the same time, he said, referencing how the Air Force is losing active-duty pilots to commercial airlines.
Part-time pilots, however, tend to stay longer than their full-time counterparts.
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Losing battle: Cash, incentives won’t be enough to tackle Air Force pilot crisis
The total Air Force — active, Guard, Reserve — is short about 1,500 pilots, about 1,300 of whom are fighter pilots.
The Air National Guard is feeling the pressure of maintaining a full-time pilot force amid a national pilot shortage, according to the chief of the National Guard Bureau.
The Guard is about a couple hundred pilots short when it comes to its full-time positions, Gen. Joseph Lengyel said at an Air Force Association event near Washington, D.C., on Thursday.
In the Air National Guard, full-timers are categorized as either technicians or Active Guard and Reserve, or AGR. Those under the technician umbrella are civil servants and paid on the government scale. The Air Force created the technician slots as a way to train Guardsmen and maintain operational readiness without needing as many people.
“It would be my choice to turn those [technician slots] into AGR slots,” Lengyel said, which would help fill out the full-time Guard numbers.
The National Guard Bureau is also looking at the same options as the Air Force when it comes to retaining pilots, including improving pilots’ quality of life and possibly even retention bonuses.
Air National Guard Pilot Slots
But there’s a key difference between the active force and the Guard.
“The only good news for me is you can be an airline pilot and a National Guard pilot” at the same time, he said, referencing how the Air Force is losing active-duty pilots to commercial airlines.
Part-time pilots, however, tend to stay longer than their full-time counterparts.
Sign up for the Air Force Times Daily News Roundup
Don't miss the top Air Force stories, delivered each afternoon
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Losing battle: Cash, incentives won’t be enough to tackle Air Force pilot crisis
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The total Air Force — active, Guard, Reserve — is short about 1,500 pilots, about 1,300 of whom are fighter pilots.